Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly said an initial examination could take place before deciding how best to take a statutory approach.

“I made the suggestion last night that we would have a non-statutory inquiry in the first instance and then that we would look at the legislation that covers Commissions of Inquiry and maybe try to make the changes to that so that we could have a Commission of Inquiry that doesn’t take years and that actually gets to the heart of the issue and actually gets some answers,” she said.

Meanwhile it emerged during yesterday's hearing that ten more women are taking legal action over their smear test results.

Today it's reported a woman settled a case similar to Vicky Phelan's four years ago but was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement.

The Irish Independent says a different lab defended the case which was initially taken against the HSE.

The woman discovered she had cervical cancer while pregnant, a year after her smear test.

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